Statement from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott

Today the five defendants who were indicted last week in Eldorado, Texas, are under arrest and in custody after surrendering to authorities Monday afternoon at the Schleicher County Sheriff’s Office:

Raymond Merrill Jessop, 36, is charged with one count of sexually assaulting a child, a first-degree felony. He faces a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison. Allan Eugene Keate, 56, is charged with one count of sexually assaulting a child, a first-degree felony. He faces a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison. Michael George Emack, 57, is charged with one count of sexually assaulting a child, a first-degree felony. He faces a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison. Merrill Leroy Jessop, 33, is charged with one count of sexually assaulting a child and bigamy, both first-degree felonies. He faces a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison on each count. Lloyd Hammon Barlow, 38, is charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse, a class B misdemeanor. He faces a sentence of up to six months in prison and a fine of $2,000 per count.

Last week, the district court set bond for each of the felony suspects at $100,000 per charge. The misdemeanor charge carries a $5,000 bond.

The Schleicher County grand jury also returned a first-degree felony charge against Warren Jeffs, who was indicted for sexually assaulting a child. Jeffs is currently incarcerated in Arizona.

Today’s arrests reflect a nearly week-long effort by the Texas Rangers and the Texas Attorney General’s Office to arrange for the defendants’ arrest.

The charges against these defendants’ resulted from a cooperative effort among the Texas Attorney Generals Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, the Schleicher County Sheriff’s Department, 51st Judicial District Attorney Steve Lupton, and the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Richard B. Roper.